Extract ... “Robert Plamondon has performed an important service. He has shown that Canadian federal Conservatives are not just, as they have often appeared, a hodgepodge of disparate elements and political losers who don’t happen to be Liberals, and who receive a chance, which they squander, one election in four. And he has shown how the Conservatives can win federally and can regain the status, lost for nearly a century, of a natural party of government. This is an invaluable analysis of the leaders and fluctuations of fortune of the Canadian federal Conservative Party over 142 years, of what it needs to succeed, and why it has often failed.” | BOB PLAMONDON April 3, 2009 Ottawa -- In Conrad Black's extensive e-mail correspondence with me in relation to my book Blue Thunder: The Truth about Conservatives from Macdonald to Harper, his comments were not random "musings" but reactions to my manuscript (Pointed Words From A Prison Pundit - March 31). He pointed out, as we would expect from a reviewer, errors in fact, dissonance over my analysis, or material he thought would improve my book. Without the context of my manuscript, readers may have misunderstood many of Mr. Black's points. For example, when he spoke of Nelson Mandela, he did not diminish his ordeal, but simply suggested a correction to my manuscript where I wrote Mr. Mandela was being held "behind bars." Mr. Black frequently expressed admiration for Prime Minister Stephen Harper's toughness, determination and cunning. When he wondered why Mr. Harper was being portrayed as a "jackass" by others, it was phrased as a question, not as an attack on the PM's character. Mr. Black was very gracious in our correspondence. "I hope you don't think me presumptuous in doing all this," he wrote to me. "Ignore it by all means, but I thought some of it might be useful." It was extremely useful. It's unfortunate the article left the impression of mean-spirited potshots aimed at Canada's political leaders rather than what his e-mails were: comprehensive, balanced, insightful, constructive contributions from one of Canada's most intelligent historians.Bob Plamondon responds to Globe and Mail 'Senior Political Writer Jane Taber |